On Aug. 14, 1900, an international force, including U.S. Marines, entered Beijing to quell the Boxer Rebellion, aimed at ridding China of foreigners.
In 1935 the Social Security Act became law, creating unemployment insurance and pension plans for the elderly.
In 1945 President Harry Truman announced that Japan had accepted the terms of unconditional surrender, that World War II was over and that the following day would be V-J Day. Also, actor Steve Martin was born in Waco, Texas.
In 1947 Pakistan became independent of British rule. Also, novelist Danielle Steel was born in New York.
In 1951 newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst died at 88 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
In 1969 British troops arrived in Northern Ireland to intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics.
In 1973 the U.S. halted its bombing of Cambodia.
In 1997 mass murderer Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death for the Oklahoma City bombing.
In 1999 baseball Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese died in Louisville at 81.
In 2003, defying a federal court order, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore said he wouldn’t remove a 10 Commandments monument from the state judicial building.
In 2006 Israel halted its offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas as a UN-imposed cease-fire went into effect after a month of warfare that killed more than 900 people. Also, actor Bruno Kirby died at 57 in Los Angeles.
